Pages

10/28/2009

Remembering Ann

My neighbor Ann Rawlings died. She was buried after her funeral yesterday. She is my neighbor . . . and my friend. She and her husband Bill moved in next to me seventeen years ago as a retired couple. I have grown to love them as if they are my own family.When I walked into the viewing room and saw Bill seated in a chair next to Ann's casket with his head bowed I couldn't hold back the tears."I don't know what to do," Bill said while I put my arms around his neck.

Bill and Ann Rawlings truly love each other. On my dozens of visits to their home they always expressed their gratitude for life and retold the story of how they met.

While I sat at their kitchen table with Ann's daughters as they planned her funeral, I looked into their beautiful dark eyes and saw pieces of their mother looking back at me . . . the way she laughed . . . the way she held her hands. And I realized Ann lives on in those she left behind.

I've heard it said that we die when we've learned what we came to learn or when we've taught what we came to teach. I think Ann did both.

At her funeral her children remembered her soft hands on their cheeks and her spagetti dinners. It seems as though it is the little things we do that turn out to be the big things.

As her grandchildren and great-grandchildren walked to the stand at the church to sing "I Am A Child of God" at her funeral I waited at the piano to accompany them. In each face I saw a look, a smile, a gesture of my friend and neighbor.

Snow fell yesterday - a soft benediction to Ann's life . . . so filled with gentleness and grace.

What the Baadsgaard Coat of Arms Means

* Fleur-de-lis: Purity and light* Anchor: Hope and religious steadfastness - acts as a reference to the naval interpretation of the name “Baadsgaard”*Pen and inkwell: Educated employment and the art of writing* Open book: Manifestation—a declared interest in education (and represents the literary accomplishments of the family)* White rose: Hope, joy, love and faith - this particular style of rose is known as the Yorkshire rose, a reference to the British origins of the Wolsey, Parrish and Beck family)* Star: Celestial goodness, excellence and nobility of character. The number of stars corresponds to the number of children in the family…)* Angel Moroni: Activity in the LDS church and faith in the restored Gospel

Shield Supporters* Stag: Peace and harmony; one who will not fight unless provoked* Angel: dignity, glory and honor; missionary; bearer of joyful news* Helmet: Facing left, the helmet indicates loyalty to God (additionally, this helmet is a rough approximation of the helmet found on the Danish Baads family coat of arms)

Mantling: Usually a purely artistic touch; however, the red flowers growing near the base of the shield are woodbine, which symbolize “Love that does not injure that which it clings to”.Banner :This is a motto or phrase with special meaning to the family: Cum uterque pedis contactus terra, nequeo induco bracæ. Translated loosely, it means “If you keep both feet on the ground, you can’t get your pants on.”